Forget Me Not

Jeff's POV

"To love someone is like learning how to walk." I never understood that fully, until now. Hearing Slenderman say that was almost comical in it's self, yet deep down I think everyone knew as crazy as most things sound coming from Slender...he was 98% of the time right. It was hard for me though to even mentally un-cup my ears to listen well enough so I would have been prepared to understand, to learn. It's easy to admit that I was naive and thought I knew everything and knew how to prepare and get myself out of problems. Coming to the mansion and on first arrival I was terrified but I'd never say that out loud. Slender was always on a rant about something and even way back then I was known to tune out - until one dinner Ben was talking about how beautiful a girl was. He seemed to be all smiles and almost light hearted about everything. He'd go on and on about her through dinner naming everything he liked about this girl whether it was appropriate or not. Typically Slender cleared his threat and began to speak. "Ben...my dear child, I'm almost astonished at how childish you are but yet once more I can't believe I had ever expected anything just." Although myself and many of the other creepypasta understood exactly what he meant it was no surprise that Ben just stared at slender completely lost. "You see...long ago...it's hard to believe that I wasn't always what I am now. The heart that has now rotted black and is nearly ash once held a steady beat and it worked...oh how well the organ worked." Slender spoke almost longing yet how he referred to his past life was like a foreign language to himself. This was the first time Slender had mention anything about his past...we all kind of just thought Slender had always been here and would always be here even after things have ended. "I've shamelessly loved someone once...and that is how I know you do not seek love in this girl...perhaps she is beautiful for I do not doubt the immediate reaction from a young boy to a women. Yet beauty is not the water or soil that mends the flower." Slender paused and sipped from his cup. "I-I never said I loved her though." Ben stated. "On count though...even if you would have said you did...it wouldn't be true." Slender countered and the room fell silent. "Children...loving someone is like learning how to walk. You do not comprehend the motion or reasoning of the act and you don't always grasp walking on the first try...you fall many times before you even learn how to stand up and hold your weight...you take a first step and you stumble but you do not fall...that's already process in itself, is it not?" He asked yet not seeking an answer. The room was still quiet waiting for him to continue. "Eventually your tiny pathetic body learns how to balance as you can properly place each foot in front of the other firmly...now walking seems so easy you'd never think of it to be a challenge...you get up and walk everywhere...but now you discover you can run." Everyone looked to each other now and Ben spoke up. "What the hell are you talking about?" He asked and everyone pretty much rolled their eyes at him. "Loving someone is like walking...you don't always understand why you feel that why or how it started...you just know you do...sometimes you have bad times whether it's arguing or not but you never stop trying...and after all this it hits you how easy it is to love someone and how you'd never understand what it's like to be without them because living becomes breathing now it's not just mindless motions day to day...and that's when you learn to run." Slender stood up and made his way to the main hallway leaving everyone seated at the dinner room table practically stunned. We never did know who Slender fall in love with but everyone knew he still loved her whether it was decades ago. Ben didn't say much after that expect "I never said I loved her." And I guess he didn't because after ranting about her, he finally told us he killed her and he just thought she was pretty, that's all...but that same night I laid on my side alone in my bed. The winter weather was setting in, making my skin crawl with goose bumps but I knew part of it was from my thoughts. I couldn't help but think of her. Y/n. Thinking back to it now I don't think I stopped thinking about her. She was always in the back of my mind throughout the day and then at night when there was nothing to distract me, she'd always seemed to float to the front of my brain and make me believe in fantasies about how one day we'd meet again and she'd forget everything and run to me and tell me she loved me and always had. I thought about how'd I kiss her or when the right time would be...if I'd say anything before kissing her or just straight up do it. Then I'd think about what Slender said and how it applied to her and I hated myself because I thought of cheesy things like "if loving someone is like learning how to walk, I want to walk with her." So...after beating myself up mentally I'd finally fall asleep, only to repeat the routine night after night.